


Winter Carnival

by Chinchilla_Love



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Canon Gay Relationship, Carnival, Christmas Fluff, Cobmas, Disney References, Fluff and Humor, Gift Work, Holidays, M/M, Near Future, References to Sonic the Hedgehog, Voxman Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21923893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chinchilla_Love/pseuds/Chinchilla_Love
Summary: Boxman and Venomous are surprised to find out about Ernesto's new project when they visit for Cobmas.
Relationships: Lord Boxman/Professor Venomous
Comments: 3
Kudos: 44





	Winter Carnival

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LeviathansInferno](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeviathansInferno/gifts).



> For the Voxman Secret Santa!

Snow gathered in powdery mounds in the factory parking lot, the last tire tracks filling up as if they never existed, the last Boxmore delivery truck finally cooling its steaming engines out back. The holidays had arrived, and as was tradition, Boxmore ceased business until next year, smoke no longer billowing from the stacks except for the occasional puff of steam.

Lights soon flickered on and lit up the entire area with beautiful colors, a quite unusual sight to come from the Factory, Boxman was no longer holding himself up within the steel halls of his factory, perched like an old vulture waiting to strike; It was Ernesto’s turn to create a new reputation for his father’s company. The rotund robot wiped fog away from his office window, looking out over the Plaza and its cheerful patrons, adjusting his suit when he noticed his reflection. Jethro wheeled up next to him, his bow perfectly tied to his chassis, watching for company to arrive.

Boxman’s car, The Junker Beetle, was easy to recognize, fashioned from parts of an old Junkfish and fused with the refurbished remains of a Bolts-Wagon Beetle, creating an intimidating monster of a car that perfectly matched his personality. 

Unfortunately Boxman never actually learned to drive properly. That didn’t stop him from driving anyway.

The Junker Beetle sped down Route 175 at breakneck speed, heated tires leaving massive clouds of steam behind as it melted through the ice and snow like nothing. It turned sharply, spinning out in dangerous circles, then stopped perfectly in front of the garage, then honked with a loud beep. Ernesto had made himself dizzy just attempting to follow with his single eye, nearly toppling backwards when he realized the garage was still closed.

“You are NEVER allowed to drive my car. Fink can at least keep the car on the road most of the time!” Venomous was tinted green as Boxman pulled into the garage, smashing the brakes and causing everyone inside to lurch forward violently.

“Driving laws are too complicated anyways! I make my own rules on the road.” 

Boxman put the car into park, taking out the keys and spinning them on his finger before shoving them into his pocket. He watched Venomous tumble out of the car, Fink seemed unaffected, the pre-teen stepping out of the backseat without looking up from her gaming system.

The three were quickly herded into the living room by Ernesto, who had greeted each with a joyful hug. The night melted into conversations between everyone, catching up on each others lives. Boxman was satisfied with how successful everyone’s lives, his genuine smile finally slipping out to show itself. It was only a short time but it seemed like everyone had shared all they had to say, conversations died out and the room fell silent except for the background music. Everyone looked over to Boxman and Venomous, hoping they at least had something to talk about.

“How’re you two? It’s been a while since any of us have seen y'all.” Darrell broke the silence with the question, the other bots nodded and grinned, their stares becoming more intense. Boxman and Venomous both felt the pressure of their gazes, sighing as they both broke to their demands.

“We weren’t planning on telling you kids yet, but since you asked…” Venomous placed his head on Boxman’s shoulder affectionately, grinning like a child in a candy store.

“Me and Ven have decided to finally get a bit more serious. So…” Boxman placed his hand on Venomous’, the light causing the golden rings to become more noticeable. Raymond was the first to notice, stifling an excited squeal.

“We got engaged!” Boxman exclaimed, blushing when Venomous planted a kiss on his cheek.

Raymond finally let himself scream, jumping up and dancing around the room, Shannon eventually joining in with him. The room erupted into excitement, chatter about weddings and romance flowing out of everyone. Ernesto nearly crushed the two with a hug, tears forming in his single massive eye.

Boxman and Venomous gasped for breath when the round bot finally set them down, chuckling at the reaction from everyone. Fink, who was already aware, sat in silence, groaning as Shannon pulled her into her arms to dance around the room.

* * *

Boxman shoved his toothbrush into his mouth, running it over each of his massive fangs until he was satisfied. Being with Venomous meant he had to take care of himself, Box wasn’t allowed to neglect his hygiene anymore, Venomous would make sure of it. Spitting the last bit of water out he vacated the area, quietly shutting the door behind him. The master bedroom was exactly like they left it months ago, the new bedding seemingly the only change. 

Boxman crept up to the end of the bed, watching Venomous read silently in the warm light, admiring his fiance with a loving gaze.

Venomous looked over the pages of his crime novel, watching as a large lump in the comforter approached him quickly. Warm arms soon wrapped around his waist, cuddling up between his legs. Boxman’s cheek pressed into his chest as his head just barely poked out from beneath the blankets. Then his eye began to glow a soft red, something that always reminded Venomous of a certain red-nosed reindeer…

“Red-Eyed Rooster…” he commented absentmindedly.

“Wha-?” Boxman looked up drowsily, each breath Venomous took slowly lulling him to sleep.

“Nothing… Goodnight…” Venomous cooed, gently smoothing back his fiance’s hair, kissing his head before setting his book aside and flicking the lamp off, leaving them to sleep in the soft red glow.

* * *

Boxman had always been an early bird. It was no surprise that Venomous woke to the sound of Boxman’s excessive crowing, he was always very vocal while cooking breakfast, waking up the entire factory much too early. Venomous groaned and threw off the covers, immediately regretting doing so; his body was unbelievably cold during this time of year due to being an ectotherm. How he wished he could go back on that change. With a shiver he managed to stand up, his body beginning to slow against his will.

“This isn’t your factory anymore, father! You can’t just get up and scream about pancakes at 6 in the morning now!”

Boxman was stuffing his face with pancakes while Ernesto complained to him about the wake-up call. “It’s my routine! I can’t control it!”

“Ernesto... What happened to the heating in our room?” Venomous shuffled in, covered head to toe in layers of clothing. His scales were dull and discolored, which was immediately subject to Boxman’s attention. The smaller man couldn’t talk with his mouth full but it was obvious he was worried.

“Oh, Sorey… We uh, are focusing on heating for one of our new projects, since we don’t exactly need heating anymore as bots! We can get your room set with heating again if you wish, stepfather!” Ernesto explained, his hat to his chest as he scratched the back of his head, regretting the decision to change the heating plan in the master bedroom.

Boxman cleared his throat, “Project? What new project? You’ve never mentioned any project…” he was visibly curious, his attention pulled away from Venomous. 

“You… wouldn’t like it.”

Now he had Venomous' attention.

If robots could sweat, Ernesto would be at this moment.

“It’s just a side project, nothing important really! We built fairgrounds and carnival rides with some of our excess funds, we can profit more off of entertainment.” Ernesto explained, pulling out his phone to share a few photos from the construction process. “We’re using the heating to keep the snow from piling up on everything, and to keep the patrons warm!”

Boxman narrowed his gaze, “You built an amusement park?”

“It’s more of a Fair! Like with the corndogs and rides! Jethro and I expect it to be successful, and even now we’re getting plenty of visit-”

Boxman cut him off.

“What are we?! Eggman Industries? We destroy heroes! Not build playful fantasy lands for children to frolic around in!” Ernesto felt himself stepping away as his father exploded, something that none of the bots had experienced in years, not since before he began his dedicated relationship with Venomous. He was scary like this, his eyes wide and face red, feathers flying as he squawked in complaint.

Venomous quickly approached from behind, running his hand across the crest of hair on Boxman’s head, the smaller man was quickly calmed down from the touch. “Boxman, you can’t control every aspect of the company anymore. You handed off the company, and you should be proud with every expansion your sons add to the family company.” 

Boxman frowned and pushed into the touch, mumbling to himself for a moment. “Sorrey, I shouldn’t have got angry at you, Ernesto. I’m very proud of the progress you’re making with the company.” Venomous nodded in agreement, finally pulling his hand away much to Boxman’s disappointment.

“Do you think we can get a tour of the fair?” Venomous added, crossing his arms across his chest, trying to stay comfortable in the heavy layers of clothes he wore, his joints finally warming up, a sharp toothed smile spread across his face as he looked to Ernesto for a confirmation.

“Of course, Step-Father! Tonight we’ll let you have the entire place to yourself!” Ernesto clapped his hands together, his eye formed into a happy expression as he pulled his parents into a massive hug “We’ll make sure the heat is cranked up so you don’t get cold! This’ll be so much fun!”

* * *

Boxman swore today felt shorter than usual, the sun was setting and the patrons were cleared from the fairgrounds. He sighed as Venomous dragged him through the threshold of the back doors and onto the path leading to the gates. The snow was up to Boxman’s knees much to his dismay, it slowly thinned out as they approached the entrance, becoming slush in the heat.

Boxman hated getting wet.

“Aw, cheer up Boxy! I’ve never been to a Fair before, won’t you show me what to do?” Venomous pushed open the gates, breathing in the sweet smell of roasted nuts and corndogs. He spun on his heels, laughing at how colorful everything was. The park lit up beautifully in the dark, outshining even the moon above. “Isn’t this incredible!? Look what your sons have created!”

Boxman was handed a Corndog by an enthusiastic Robbie, he quickly took it and shoved it into his mouth, then removed the bare stick. “Yeah, it’s nice I suppose. Food’s good…”

“Don’t be like this, Box. Have some fun tonight… for me.” Venomous gripped his fiance’s hands, puppy dog eyes in full force as he looked into his eyes. With soft purple lips, Venomous made the sappiest kissy face he could conjure, “I wuv you~”

“Oh my cob, don’t do that voice ever again!” Boxman cackled, a soft blush forming on his cheeks. “Okay, Okay. I’ll have fun tonight, stuff like this wasn’t my favorite thing when I was younger. Sorey for being grumpy.”

“Good, that’s what I like to hear.”

Venomous grabbed Boxman’s wrist, dragging him off to the next booth, a milk bottle toss game. The Robbie inside waved excitedly at his grandparents, handing them sets of three yellow baseballs. Boxman knew how the game worked and started to reel his arm back when Venomous held out his hand, confused about the goal of the game.

Robbie spoke before Venomous could ask, effectively stealing the spotlight from under Boxman’s feet.

“The objective of this game is to knock over each of the seven milk bottles using one baseball at a time in under a minute! If you succeed the task, you will receive a prize of your choice!” Robbie stepped aside, holding out a stopwatch for the two to see. “Your time starts… now!”

Venomous jumped forward, his claws digging into the leather padding of his ball as he readied his throw, his arm swinging the ball forward to bounce off the side of the stool that his targets were standing on. The milk bottles wobbled a bit, but didn’t fall over. Venomous hissed in dissatisfaction, then threw the other two balls in quick succession, each missed their mark by a few inches. He frowned, looking over at Boxman, who hadn’t touched any of the balls yet.

“Got it.”   
  
Boxman threw all three at once, each one bombarded the metal bottles loudly, knocking each one to the ground easily. He stood back and admired his work with a smug grin.

“Sorey Papa Boxman, you’re only supposed to use one ball at a time. Since you cheated, you can’t pick a prize!” Robbie picked up the bottles and arranged them back into their tower. Boxman grit his teeth, then exhaled, making a calming motion with his hands.

“Okay okay. Serves me right for not following the  _ rules _ . Thank you for the game, Robbie.”

The rest of the night followed the same formula, Robbie would explain the rules, Venomous would fail horribly, and Boxman would win only by cheating.

Ring toss was a massacre. Balloon darts ended in an explosion. Pick a duck was pure terror. The rifle range was just a horrible idea in the first place.

“Hey, what’s this one?” Venomous stopped by a Ring the Bell strength tester, lifting the giant hammer in his arms and playfully swinging it around. He grinned and turned towards Boxman, “This seems simple enough!”

“It is simple. Just whack the hammer on the button hard enough to ring the bell.” Boxman quickly explained before Robbie even opened his mouth, shooting a quick triumphant look towards the robots direction. He gripped Venomous’ hips to hold him steady “You can do this, babe.”

Venomous blushed, enjoying the attention from his fiance. He lifted the hammer above his head, swinging it down with as much force as possible. Venomous kept his eyes closed for a moment, did it take a second for the ringing to happen?

The ring never came.   
  
“What!? I swung so hard… Boxy…” Venomous opened his eyes wide, turning to the smaller man with a frown on his face. “I just can’t do anything tonight…”

Boxman brought Venomous into a hug, standing on his toes to kiss him on the chin. “It’s alright sweetheart. It’s all just fun and games. Practice makes perfect. Let me show you how to do it.”

He reached for the hammer, and Venomous set it in his calloused palm, worn from years of forming metal by hand. Venomous had to admit he felt flustered when he saw Box at work, his muscles always bulging out from beneath that puffy body of his. He truly was incredible once you got to really know him.

Boxman got a feel for the weight of the hammer, balancing himself out and pulling his arms back, swinging forward with enough force to loudly displace the air around him. It’s head slammed into the button below with enough force to flatten it into itself. The machine exploded as the bell was blasted into the sky with a horrible metallic ring. Boxman rested the hammer on his shoulder, watching the bell disappear into the stars.

“I’d like a prize for my man.” Boxman brushed off his shoulders and pressed the red hot hammer into the ground, resting against it as it sizzled the grass beneath it.

“Of course Papa!” Robbie was awestruck, his face burnt in the explosion, he’d heard stories of grandfather’s strength, and now he got to witness it in front of him. He quickly shared the moment over his hivemind before handing over a large stuffed python to the waiting hands of Lord Boxman.

* * *

Venomous took a bite of the deep fried Snookers bar, amazed at how much the flavour changed just by frying it. He was careful not to get any on the stuffed snake wrapped around his body, the precious prize reminding him of just how powerful his Boxy was. The two had decided to take a break from games and look at the rest of the park, the entire fairgrounds were like an art piece made of light, everything illuminated by electricity and neon.

Boxman spotted a ferris wheel in the distance, this would be the perfect ride for them, it wasn’t fast or scary, just calm… and romantic.

“We should ride the wheel! You can probably see the entire park from up there!” 

For the first time that night Boxman was dragging Venomous somewhere, excitement quickened his step. The wheel got larger the closer they got, it was shifting in color, animated with movement. Venomous wasn’t scared of heights but the sheer size of it was intimidating.

Robbie was there to greet them, opening the gate to a red gondola. The round open space was metallic and encased in glass, cushioned leather seats sat across from each other. Venomous sat down and finished off the last of his fried Snookers bar, Boxman sat next to him.   
  
“Okay. Don’t get up from your seats until the ride has come from a full stop, and have fun!” Robbie exclaimed, locking the gate and shuffling over to his control panel. He pressed a few buttons then pulled a lever, the gondola jolted forward, then smoothed out into a steady rise. “I’ll be taking you directly to the top, since nobody else is here!”

Robbie waved as they rose, Boxman and Venomous waved back until he was far enough away, then they looked out the window together.

They were already high enough to see the entire park, Boxmore overshadowing it, and the Plaza in the distance. Snow was coming down heavily around the Plaza, piling up in front of the doors and windows. Boxman let himself think about how much work it would take for Gar and those stupid plaza kids to get rid of it all.

“This was a lot more fun than I thought.”

“Hm?”

“Tonight. Just you and me. I was angry at first, but now I see how much fun it was to show you what the Carnival is like. It was rude of me to treat you and the bots the way I did.”   
  
Venomous leaned in and kissed Boxman on the cheek just as the gondola jostled to a stop at the highest point. Boxman looked down and blushed, his hand drifting up to touch his cheek. He grinned and looked over at Venomous, the two met eyes, hands drifting to hold each other.

“Merry Cobmas.” Venomous whispered, his fangs shining in the moonlight.

Boxman cupped his fiance’s cheeks, pulling him into a kiss, Venomous’ fingers ran through green hair as the gondola swung gently in the winter’s chill wind. Sharing warmth each time their lips met, soft laughter slipping out between breaths.


End file.
